NEW YORK — Almost all references to a student accused of detonating a rooftop bomb at Cooperstown High School have been erased from the school’s 1998 yearbook.
Principal Barry Gould, who ordered the action, only allowed one picture of senior Ethan Brush in the bottom corner of the last page, among advertisements and family announcements. His picture in a senior group shot was airbrushed out.
Gould told the Daily Star of Oneonta that appearing in the yearbook is a privilege revocable for student misconduct.
“The school reserves the right to decide those issues concerning those privileges,” Gould said. “It is up to the purview of the school to decide.”
Brush, who is the prime suspect in the senior Halloween prank, said he made a deal with the school and feels cheated.
“We made an agreement,” Brush told the Daily Star. “They didn’t want anything [in the yearbook], but I put up a fight. Obviously what I meant was a senior picture in alphabetical order, but I didn’t specify that, so it’s in the last page.”
Now enrolled at the State University of New York at Oneonta, Brush is charged with a number of counts including criminal possession of weapons, criminal trespassing and reckless endangerment in connection with the prank. He is expected to accept a plea bargain July 7 in county court.